Issue 13 - NEXRAD Radar Operations Center - NOAA

NEXRADNowWSR-88D Radome and Tower Maintenance ProgramsThe WSR-88D Radar Operations Center (ROC)has responsibility for the depot-level maintenance ofboth the WSR-88D radome and tower. Over the pastseveral years, there have simultaneously been both apreventive maintenance program and corrective maintenanceprogram in place to address radome and towermaintenance requirements. The ROC used a teamfrom Hill Air Force Base (AFB) to support a preventivemaintenance program, which focused on radomepainting, but also addressed some minor radomerepairs and tower maintenance issues. The ROC alsocontracted L3-ESSCO Communications to supportthe corrective maintenance program for the past fiveyears.The Radome Preventive Maintenance and Inspection(PMI) program tasked to Hill AFB consisted of acontinuous schedule of WSR-88D site visits on anapproximate four-year cycle to perform a series oftower and radome component inspections and variousdepot-level repairs. Although the Hill team performeda number of tasks during these visits, the mainpurpose for this program was to ensure that eachWSR-88D radome was repainted during this four-yearcycle of visits. The four-year visit cycle has nowbeen completed and all radomes have been coatedwith Ameron PSX-700 coating that was selected afterextensive testing. With this extremely durableAmeron paint, continuous recoating of the radomesshould not be necessary, as multiple layers of paintwill negatively impact the performance of the radars.As a result, the ROC made the decision to temporarilyhalt the Radome PMI program until we begin to witnessdegradation in the condition of the Ameron paintpreviously applied.Does that mean that sites no longer have a radomeor tower depot level maintenance capability availableto support them? Absolutely not! All the radome andtower maintenance tasks previously performed by theHill PMI team are still available through the ROC’sradome maintenance contract with L3-ESSCO Communications,and the tower depot level maintenance isnow provided through a recently awarded tower maintenancecontract with Southeastern CommunicationsServices (SECS). Each of these contracts provides forevery level of service from inspection and minor repairto complete repainting or even replacement.If a site has a radome or tower issue that requiresdepot-level maintenance, simply contact the ROC Hotlineand request support. The site will be contacted byeither ROC personnel from the Retrofit ManagementTeam (RMT) or directly by the contractors providingthe maintenance. For both the radome and towermaintenance contracts, the contractors will first coordinatea visit with the site to assess the maintenancerequired and return at a later date to perform the maintenance.In the event of catastrophic damage or otherurgent repairs, the assessment and repair can be performedin a single visit. Common examples of radomeand tower problem reports include:• Leaking radome• Panel damage from hail, lightning, bullet holes,etc.• Radome/Tower paint issues (extensive corrosion,peeling, algae, etc.)• Loose radome panel-to-panel or tower bolts• Broken down-conductor clips in radomeEach problem reported to the Hotline is evaluatedto determine if depot-level maintenance is warranted.The severity of the problem must justify the considerablecost of mobilizing a team for inspection andrepair, so site personnel should be prepared to providedigital photographs or detailed descriptions that illustratethe problem scope and severity.Marty Williams, RMT Team LeadROC Program BranchNEXRAD Now is an informational publication of the WSR-88D RadarOperations Center (ROC).We encourage our readers to submit articles for publication. Pleasee-mail all articles and comments to:ruth.e.jackson@noaa.govAll previous issues of NEXRAD Now can be viewed on the ROC HomePage at:http://www.roc.noaa.gov/nnow.aspDirector............................................................................Richard VogtEditor...............................................................................Ruth Jacksonpage 7